rainbow
Pluralrainbows
Pluralrainbows
Formsrainbows, rainbowing, rainbowed
- 1An arch of spectrum colors seen in the sky when sunlight is refracted and split by raindrops, or any similar display of these colors, as made by a prism.
A double rainbow arched over the valley as the storm moved east.
After the shower passed, the kids ran outside to look for rainbows.
Note
It has long been a songwriter's word too; "Rainbow Connection" (1979) openly puzzles over how often songs take them as a subject. Behind the arch is simple optics: raindrops bend and reflect sunlight. In a primary rainbow, red appears on the outside and violet on the inside. In a secondary rainbow, the order is reversed.
- 2Having many colors, especially colors arranged in the order they appear in a rainbow.
She wore a rainbow scarf knitted in stripes running from red to violet.
The birthday cake was covered in rainbow sprinkles.
UsageUsed before a noun: rainbow sprinkles, a rainbow scarf.
Similarmulticolored, colorful
Oppositemonochrome, plain
- 3A rainbow trout.
He landed a three-pound rainbow on his second cast.
The state stocks the lake with rainbows every spring.
Note
Anglers clip rainbow trout to rainbow, and like many names of fish it can go without a plural ending when it means the kind rather than the count: Francis R. Steel found in 1911 that he could "catch more rainbow by using one fly." Rainbows, with the s, counts individual fish.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The cited fishing observation is attributed to Francis R. Steel in 1911. en.wiktionary.org
- Steel's quotation contains the exact words cited. en.wiktionary.org
- 4Relating to LGBT people or the LGBT community.
The city's rainbow community packed the square for the opening of Pride week.
Several rainbow families joined the school's parent association this year.
Note
The phrase rainbow alliance shows how close this sits to the "many races or parties" meaning: in Alan McKee's The public sphere (2005) it gathers gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people and those still questioning, while in politics the same phrase means a mixed coalition.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Alan McKee wrote The Public Sphere: An Introduction, first published in 2005. researchgate.net
- McKee describes a rainbow alliance as potentially including gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender people and people questioning their cultural affiliation. en.wiktionary.org
- 5A wide, varied assortment of things or people.
The night market offers a rainbow of street food from across Southeast Asia.
The festival drew a rainbow of performers, from jugglers to jazz bands.
UsageUsually a rainbow of something: a rainbow of colors, a rainbow of choices.
Similararray, assortment, variety, range, spectrum
- 6Having members from several racial or ethnic backgrounds, or from different cultural or ideological groups.
The candidate built a rainbow coalition of Black, Latino, Asian American, and white working-class voters.
The new city council is run by a rainbow alliance of progressives, libertarians, and old-school moderates.
UsageMost often in rainbow coalition or rainbow alliance.
Similardiverse, multiracial, multiethnic, broad
Note
In parliamentary talk the colors become parties, as with a 1999 coalition of Greens, Liberals and Socialists, or the Liberal Democrat rainbow alliance Hooson warned against in a 2007 letter to the Western Mail. John Simon stretched it after a verb in 1994, writing that a cast would not be considered "rainbow enough."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- A coalition of Greens, Liberals and Socialists governed from 1999. emnbelgium.be
- Hooson warned against Liberal Democrat participation in a rainbow alliance in a 2007 letter to the Western Mail. iwa.wales
- 7Something that looks real or within reach but is only an illusion, like a mirage.
The promise of a quick fortune was a rainbow that faded the moment he put his savings in.
He spent his twenties chasing rainbows, always sure the next scheme would make him rich.
UsageOften chase rainbows or chasing rainbows: hoping for something you will not get.
Less common meanings
- 8To color something with the hues of a rainbow, or to shine or shimmer with many colors like a rainbow.
Spray from the waterfall rainbowed the rocks in the afternoon light.
In the late afternoon, sunlight passing through the stained glass would rainbow the stone floor of the hall.
- 9In baseball, a curveball, especially a slow one.
She dropped a looping rainbow over the outside corner for strike three.
Hitters who sit on fastballs look foolish against his rainbows.
Note
The pitch is named for its path: a slow curveball rises out of the pitcher's hand and drops in a high arc, the shape of the bow in the sky. The word fits the slow, looping kind best; a hard curve that breaks late and sharp is less likely to earn it.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- A slow curveball can rise after release and then drop in a rainbow-like arc. en.wikipedia.org
- 10In soccer, a trick in which a player uses both feet to send the ball arcing over an opponent's head.
The winger beat his marker with a cheeky rainbow and then crossed for the goal.
Pulling off a rainbow in a real match takes nerve and perfect timing.
Note
Its full name is the rainbow kick. The player traps the ball between the feet, rolls it up the back of one leg with the other foot, then flicks it with the heel so it loops forward over the defender's head, tracing the arc the name promises.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
- The trick is called the rainbow kick. en.wikipedia.org
- The player holds the ball between the feet and rolls it up one leg using the other foot. onlinesocceracademy.com
- The heel flick sends the ball forward and overhead to beat a defender. en.wikipedia.org
- The trick takes its name from the ball's arcing trajectory. en.wikipedia.org
- 11In poker, especially of a flop, made up of cards that are all of different suits.
A rainbow flop of king, nine, four gave the player holding two kings little to fear.
On a rainbow board, a flush is possible only if the turn and river both match a flop suit.
Oppositemonotone
- 12In Texas hold 'em or Omaha hold 'em, a flop whose three cards are all of different suits.
The flop came a rainbow, ace, eight, three, and she pushed all her chips in.
In Omaha, a rainbow leaves any flush draw needing help on both the turn and the river.
Note
Poker players say the flop came a rainbow, or use the adjective in a rainbow flop or a rainbow board. With three suits showing, nobody can hold a flush yet, and one can still arrive only if the turn and the river both match a suit already on the board, which is why the word reassures a player holding a big pair.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- A rainbow flop prevents a made flush; a flush requires both remaining community cards to match one of the flop's suits. pokerstars.com
- The reduced flush threat can reassure someone holding a big pair. 888poker.com
- 13A person who belongs to the LGBT community.
- 14In cryptography, relating to or making use of rainbow tables.
- 15In a climbing gym where the holds are colored to mark suggested routes, to climb on holds of different colors, ignoring the routes.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
Old English reġnboga ("rainbow") became Middle English reynbowe or raynbowe. It goes back through Proto-West Germanic *regnabogō and Proto-Germanic *regnabugô, and it amounts to rain plus bow in the sense of "arch." West Frisian reinbôge, Dutch regenboog, German Regenbogen, Danish regnbue, Swedish regnbåge and Icelandic regnbogi all mean "rainbow" and are related.